Saturday, September 30, 2006

Indiana vs. Wisconsin

T-minus 5 minutes to kick-off

Today's things to look for:

*History You'd assume that we'd kicked some Hoosier butt over the year's, as you don't really think of them as a football school. But we only lead the series 13-10. We demolished them last year at Camp Randall, but allowed them to come back from almost 20 points down 2 years ago to lose in Bloomington.

*How well the Badgers handle a team that's likely not to back down at any point. On paper, this game doesn't look like much of a matchup, but with the return of their coach to the sidelines, there's no way Indiana is going to lay down easily.

*Special teams A bright spot the first few games, they stumbled and sputtered against Michigan. Special Teams is a bright spot for Indiana, with one punt already returned. The Hoosier's boast the nation's leader in kickoff returns, Marcus Thigpen, who's averaged 52.6 yards per return and runs a 4.29 40.

*P.J Hill Indiana has given up major yardage on the ground in their first four games and today shouldn't be any different. Our offensive line far outweighs their defensive one and Hill's proclivity to run over anything in his way should make for an explosive running performance.

*Passing game The Hoosiers have allowed an average of 169 yards in the air thus far, but their opponents haven't been of a Big Ten calibur. Look for Stocco to be able to air out the ball downfield.

*Indiana's secondary Hoosiers cornerback Terry Porter already has 3 interceptions, though as mentioned above, the competition hasn't been top tier. Their aggressive secondary should an interesting foil for Stocco. We'll see who wins. If the running game is all over the place, there may be no need to put anything in the air.

*First down yardage Wisconsin has set a goal of at least 4 yards on first down